Duff: Spencer back in the ring Sunday

Windsor's Mary Spencer drinks some water after losing 17-14 against China's Jinzi Li during their 68-75kg women's quarterfinal bout at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. (The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz)

The little things, Mary Spencer has come to learn, certainly add up to a lot of heartache.

The Windsor boxer has devoted much time over the past four months since her unceremonious exit from the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games with a 17-14 loss to China’s Jinzi Li in her opening 75-kg bout attempting to decipher where her bullet train to the gold medal went off the rails.

Much like a fighter delivering a steady series of body shots in order to reach an ultimate goal, she can’t pinpoint any one blow as the fatal one that shattered her dream.

“There’s a lot of things, a lot of minor things, but when it comes down to it, you’ve got to make those little things are taken care of,” Spencer, 27, said. “I can’t really say any one big thing, but a lot of little things have to be looked at better.

“I had a talk about it with my coaches and my entire team, actually. Going forward, we’ll have to make sure that those small details are better taken care of.”

As to exactly what those minor details were, Spencer prefers to keep the issues private.

Invest in a little detective work, though, and it’s not difficult to begin adding up items that likely weighed so heavily on Spencer that she felt uncharacteristic “crippling fear” when entering the ring to face Li.

There was her Canadian championship victory over close friend Ariane Fortin, after which Fortin filed a complaint with Boxing Canada insisting the bout was fixed, charges that were summarily dismissed.

In April, Spencer was soundly defeated 27-14 by American Claressa Shields, a potentially confidence-shattering setback that was her first loss in a year. The following month saw Sweden’s Anna Laurell drop Spencer 18-11 at the world championships, requiring her to gain a wildcard spot just to get into the Olympics.

There were the mounting outside pressures that come with great expectations. Spencer was so inundated with interview requests that a personal media attache was assigned to handle her schedule. Cover Girl signed her as a spokesperson. A documentary crew tailed her every move.

Even though she knew almost instantly that she would continue in boxing, aiming at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Spencer also recognized that she needed time to regroup.

She’ll return to the ring Sunday, dropping down in weight to fight Ontario champion Bonnie Cook of Toronto in a 69-kg bout on a card at Average Joe’s in Windsor that gets underway at 1 p.m.

The prolonged absence from the squared circle was part of Spencer’s new game plan.

“It’s not like I ever was in the habit of fighting every month,” she said.

“I usually did have a couple of months gap in between. But this one was the longest gap that I can remember in the last 10 years.

“I think it was a quick decision that I made to hang in there for the next four years. The rest of that time was just thinking about the preparations you have to make, to make sure I’m doing things the right way to get ready for 2016 properly. And one of those things was taking a physical and a mental break.

“That’s been taking up some time.”

Though the Olympics are long done, Spencer isn’t ready to say she’s done thinking about the Olympics.

“I can’t say that I’m actually over it, to be honest,” she said. “Am I still walking around frustrated and feeling disappointed? No, I was able to move on from those feelings fairly quickly. But I’m obviously going to sense that disappointment until I get the chance to redeem it.”

Sent to London as Canada’s golden girl, when her time to shine arrived, Spencer didn’t answer the bell, and that reality stings more than any punch could ever hurt her.

“I look at it as it could have been and it should have been,” Spencer said. “But it didn’t. So now it’s time to regroup.”

The regrouping begins Sunday, but the redeeming may have to wait until Rio.

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